Kizuna Encounter - PAL - NGH

TikTekTak

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Posts
680
Hey forum members!

I know asking about this particular game can be a reason for endless discussions.

I hope this won't happen so here goes nothing.

Seems this game legit? Is in possession of a friend of mine who won it in a competition back in the day when the Neo Geo was "big" here in austria.

To me the label seems a bit weird. It is not perfectly cut out as it seems. The front/back of the insert also looks a bit unsharp. Last but not least the SNK logo on the spine seems a bit to bright blue. I dunno really. I'm no expert at all.

Some photos:

http://img202.imageshack.us/g/img4592hs.jpg/

What do the experts say? :D
 
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TikTekTak

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Posts
680
Seller who seller where? :D

There is no seller it's just a pal of mine who was wondering and I told him I could ask some more or less polite people on a forum which know their ways around Neo Geo related stuff. ;)

@neoconverted: Besides that the Label is cut out rather strangely I can see no difference to the label picture on this one. Where is the difference? :spock:

On further inspection of the cart I see some strange carvings on the top of the cart where the label ends. As if someone played with a knive there. :conf:
 

TikTekTak

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Posts
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Jup that is right a little more yellow in the background on this one.

Could it be that the label was replaced? Or that the labels weren't all 100% percent the same color?

Especially the manual looks pretty original though(to me at least). I have to admit though that I never saw a false PAL Kizuna manual anywhere. ;)

I talked to someone in a german forum who says he knows his stuff as well and he told me that it seems legit to him especially since the manual has all the pages it should.

Oh well I suppose it is not an easy task to confirm such a mega rare game. I find it strange though that there would have been conversions around even back in the days (I know he doesn't lie to me when he says he won it '97 or at least I hope so knowing him for around 10 years know). :D
 

TikTekTak

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Posts
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@SNKorSWM: Those manuals are japanese.

@neoconverted: This auction is pretty fishy. Would be interesting to see all the other pages of his manual not just one. Afaik there are some details in the manual which are clear indicators if it's real. The guy in germany said this manual has those indicators.

As a summary I suppose only opening up could give a definitive answer but my friend doesn't want to do that because he has the fear to destroy the cart in the process. Oh well.

Thanks for all the infos although I'd rather had some Neo Geo pros oppinions on this. As my friend is allready 40 he doesn't know too much about the collectors part of Neo Geo stuff because he bought most of his games in the nineties and just plays the games not collects.

Maybe I'll practice on some of my cheap carts and then open up his. If he let's me. :D
 

TikTekTak

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
10 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Posts
680
Ok guys hold tight I really convinced him to let me open it up when I was at his appartment right now (he lives across the street). You can't believe how I was shaking. The third cart I opened up in my life was KE. :D

I made some pictures but I suppose posting them openly would be unwise.

I'll send you the pics ElCapitan.
 

El Capitan

Mai's Apprentice
Joined
May 19, 2004
Posts
1,811
The soldering

It's a difficult one. Plenty of Kizunas (as you can tell from the NGH numbers stamped on the rom chips) were converted from Savage Reign carts.

Therefore a certain number of chips were de-soldered and re-soldered, hence the difference in the soldering quality seen on the back of the pcbs.

I would say that the Savage Reign chips look very clean - i.e. they are machine soldered presumably by SNK.

It is very difficult to tell about the Kizuna chips as they are less clean, but still very neat. They could either have been re-soldered by SNK or by a very neat bootlegger.

The verification

The way that they used to verify cart was with some of the text from the manuals, but I guess this is less useful now as the manuals (I think) have been shown on the internet in full.

The clues to authenticity

Now, if this cart was purchased in 1996/7, there it is very unlikely it's a bootleg. Only because it would take someone at the time realising how few Kizunas were out there and then thinking that the game would be worth $10k plus in 15 years time....
It adds credibility that the cart is in Austria, as a few of the other Kizuna carts were rumoured to be from that area.

How to verify

The best bet, if you think it is an original cart, is to contact the webmaster here, Shawn. He has owned a Euro Kizuna, and (I think) has dealt with or knows everyone who owns a legit Kizuna.
There is also a German site which I think broke the news of the 5th Kizuna (www.Planet-SNK.com / nexgam) which could maybe assist.

Sorry I can't be more help, but the game is so bloody rare, very few people can confirm exactly what an original should look like!
 

caren103

King's Dry Cleaner
Joined
Feb 4, 2007
Posts
398
Also, opening a cart just confirms boards are legit; but the artwork (insert, manual, and even the sticker) has to be checked too.

You can compare printing quality, well defined letters, etc., against other AES games your friend or you own.

P.S.: But remember, the sticker is fake, so the other most probably will be fake too.
 

SuperDeadite

Zero's Tailor
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Posts
567
Also, opening a cart just confirms boards are legit; but the artwork (insert, manual, and even the sticker) has to be checked too.

You can compare printing quality, well defined letters, etc., against other AES games your friend or you own.

P.S.: But remember, the sticker is fake, so the other most probably will be fake too.

Yes, it could simply be a legit Japanese cart with fake Euro arts.
 

CollectionKing

I may be a shill bidder. Look out.
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Posts
223
If Shawn, FTL, or anyone has or had a legit Kizuna Encounter PAL version, please end the bias scrutiny of what is real and what is fake by showing everyone images. Not something from a website. Your own legit KE. This way everyone on here knows what to expect when someone say hey! I got KE PAL version....How can someone say it's fake when they do not have the game themselves....To me, even this website seems a little bias. Just my opinion.
 
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